Heritage sites to share £48m lottery boost

Canterbury Cathedral will receive £12.8m to replace its world-famous roof, which is leaking

The UK's oldest working theatre and largest open air museum are in line for a share of £48m in lottery cash.

Canterbury Cathedral will also receive £12.8m to replace its leaking roof and conserve its stonework and stained glass.

Bristol Old Vic has been awarded £2.3m to create a heritage centre and reinstate Georgian features.

The Heritage Lottery Fund's chairman said the investment was "not just about buildings".

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Sir Peter Luff added: "It's also about the people and communities whose lives they changed in the past - and will change in the future.

An artist's impression of what the Bristol Old Vic will look like following its redevelopment

"It's about the tourism and regeneration that will boost local economies, about the new jobs, the new training programmes and the new volunteering roles that will be created.

"It's also about the visitors from all walks of life who will gain new insights into our shared heritage."

In addition to the repairs in Canterbury, visitors will also benefit from a new welcome centre and a pass allowing free access to the cathedral for those who live, work and study in the city.

The Beamish Open Air Museum will create a 1950s-themed exhibit

Plans for Bristol's theatre include restoring the 18th Century Coopers' Hall, uncovering the original facade and digitising and cataloguing 250 years' worth of artefacts.

The cash will also help make the building's "thunder run" - which recreates the sound of thunder above the auditorium by rolling weighted balls into the rafters - accessible to the public for the first time.

Its chief executive Emma Stenning said: "Bristol Old Vic has long cherished the very special place that it holds in the hearts of Bristolians far and wide.

"It's a feeling that has inspired our heritage project and we hope that in protecting and sharing the architecture and archives of the theatre in new and exciting ways, we are in fact creating a celebration of the people of this city, who have cared for it, without fail, for so many years."

The Beamish Museum in County Durham has been awarded £10.9m to create a new 1950s exhibition.

The site will see Spain's Field Farm in Weardale moved brick by brick to the open air museum, as well as the recreation of a chip shop, police houses, allotments and a bowling green.

Other projects to receive funding

The Roman Baths project will also open up more areas of Roman remains to the public including a rare sauna or 'laconium'

• The Science Museum, London, £7.6m: To create the Medicine Galleries, charting how medical research and practice has transformed lives

• The Royal Air Force Museum, £4.6m: To fund a series of exhibitions exploring 100 years of the RAF, a national digital project and visitor's centre in London

• The Royal College of Music, £3.6m: To help display historical musical instruments including the world's earliest surviving guitar

• Bath's Roman baths, £3.4m: To create a learning centre so children can interact with Roman artefacts and take part in excavations

• The Montgomery Canal, £2.5m: To restore the Shropshire waterway, repair historic buildings and create 6.8 acres of nature reserve